Michaela Coel works with Consequence As announced, Jesse Armstrong, the creator of the new TV drama series, is working.
It is Coel’s first screenwriting project, four years after she won two Baftas and an Emmy for her dramatic series about sexual consent. I could destroy youwhich she wrote and in which she played the leading role.
The 36-year-old actor and author is working again with HBO and BBC on the new series First day on earthin which Coel writes the screenplay, stars in the lead role and serves as executive producer.
Coel, who was born in east London to Ghanaian parents, plays novelist Henri, who is struggling with relationship and work problems when she decides to take a job on a film in Ghana, her family’s home country.
Henri also sees her journey as an opportunity to reconnect with her roots – and her estranged father.
Other executive producers include Armstrong, Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni for Various Artists Limited (VAL), Jo McClellan, a BBC editor, and former BBC drama director Piers Wenger, who works for A24.
Coel said: “Thanks to their combined taste, care and expertise, I feel our show is in good hands.
“The process of creating First day on earth It’s been a wonderfully intimate experience so far and I’m excited to move on to the next phase to ultimately offer this as another television gift to anyone willing to join Henri on this wild odyssey.”
In Ghana, Henri will encounter a job and a father that “don’t turn out the way she expected,” and she will also be confronted with “danger and hypocrisy,” according to the BBC.
She will also “make new friends, give up her illusions and develop a new identity – one that may make her stronger, but could also break her.”
Announcing the series ahead of the Edinburgh TV Festival on Tuesday (20 August), Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: “Michaela is one of those extraordinary talents whose work I have long admired.
“I could destroy you is one of the reasons why I wanted to join the BBC. First day on earthMichaela has created another can’t-miss series – truly original, heartfelt, hilarious, poetic storytelling in a way that only Michaela can. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
Executive producers Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni of Various Artists Limited (VAL) said: “Once again, Michaela delivers a highly original, unique story that explores the relationship between England and Ghana through the story of a second generation British-Ghanaian woman who seizes the opportunity to return to her parents’ homeland and encounters a series of memorable characters and experiences that force her to face some painful truths.
“As always with Michaela, it is by turns shocking, funny and unforgettable and done in her inimitable style.”
Coel rose to fame after writing and starring in the sitcom The E4 Chewing gum, for which she won a BAFTA for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2016.
She then received critical acclaim for I could destroy youwhich was inspired by her own experience of sexual harassment. The series follows Arabella, a London-based television writer who struggles to meet a deadline while dealing with the trauma of being drugged and raped in a nightclub.
It is loosely based on Coel’s experience of being raped while filming the second series of chewing gum – and in 2018 she shared her experiences in a James McTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
The series has been praised for breaking many societal taboos and for its honest portrayal of consent and the reality of life after rape.
It is also widely known for exposing the phenomenon of “stealth” – the removal of a condom without consent – which is considered rape in the UK.
The series also received overwhelming praise for destigmatizing sex during menstruation. In one special – consensual – sex scene, Arabella and male character Biaggio talk openly about their menstrual blood before intercourse.
Coel is also known for the dark anthology series Black Mirrortheater The rise of the black earthmusical romance It’s been so long and superhero film Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverShe is the author of Outsider: A personal manifestoin which she describes some of her experiences with sexual assault, presented in I could destroy you.
In 2022, she was honored with the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award at a Women in Film ceremony for her “fearless” commitment through her work both in front of and behind the camera.
Filming for 10-part series First day on earth begins later this year. Cast to be announced.
